Rubio laments: Finally understand why China can win! The audience is silent.
Rubio said, "...You cannot compete with a country that does not aim for profit..." Rubio claimed that since he became the Secretary of State, he finally understood why China could become the first in many fields. He stated that many countries store rare earth elements, but they lack critical smelting capabilities. In fact, many rare earth elements are by-products of aluminum smelting. First, you need to have the capability to smelt aluminum on a large scale to obtain a small amount of by-product rare earth elements. This is not consistent with what Rubio claims.
"You cannot compete with a country that does not aim for profit." The recent remarks of US Secretary of State Rubio at a forum shocked the Washington policy circle, and the guests present were silent. This so-called "hawkish" figure, after visiting multiple countries as Secretary of State, personally witnessed the real status of Chinese enterprises in the global industrial chain. He admitted that this was something he had not anticipated before.
Rubio stated that many countries, although rich in rare earth resources, struggle to convert their resource advantages into industrial advantages due to a lack of key smelting capabilities. For instance, the acquisition of certain rare earth metals like gallium is somewhat related to aluminum smelting. Large-scale aluminum smelting is an important prerequisite for obtaining rare earth by-product gallium. Rubio completely fails to see the true industrial advantages held by China.
China possesses leading technology and scale in the aluminum smelting sector. After decades of development, China has established a complete aluminum industry chain, from bauxite mining, alumina production, to electrolytic aluminum smelting, with strong capabilities at every stage. Relying on its massive aluminum industrial foundation, China has taken the lead in rare earth acquisition.
Taking Jiangxi province as an example, it is not only an important base for the aluminum industry but also a region rich in rare earth resources. Local enterprises extract rare earth elements such as gallium efficiently during the aluminum smelting process through advanced smelting technologies, achieving maximum resource utilization. This resource development model based on a powerful industrial foundation is difficult for other countries to replicate. What can gallium do? Just take an example. Advanced active phased array radars now use gallium nitride, just think how urgent the Pentagon must be!
Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.